Giant, inflatable chicken with orange hair is staring down the White House

By Kathryn Watson

Updated on: August 10, 2017 / 4:08 PM
/ CBS News

Inflatable chicken at WH

Though gone now, the White House has an unusual onlooker Wednesday -- a large, inflatable chicken with golden orange hair.

The inflatable chicken, situated on the Ellipse facing 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, is a visual that organizers of the Tax Day March have used in the past to coax President Trump to release his tax returns. Tax Day March events in cities from D.C. to Chicago to San Francisco this year have featured the large poultry prop as they protest Mr. Trump's decision to break with the tradition of recent presidents to release their tax information.

People look at the "Trump Chicken" in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 2017 ahead of the "Tax March". The "chicken" is touring the area to promote the march which aims to pressure US President Donald Trump into releasing his tax records.
Getty

Mr. Trump has released some scattered information about his tax history, but nothing close to full returns. The president, however, isn't in town to see the bird in his backyard. He is at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on a 17-day working vacation.

The existence of the orange-haired chicken delighted the Internet on Wednesday.

But there is more than one chicken -- protesters across the country have ordered them online. Ebay lists several available inflatable Trump chickens. A 10-foot chicken from China sells for $500. China is, in fact, where the chicken appears to have originated.

The northern Chinese city of Taiyuan used a 23-foot statue to celebrate the Year of the Rooster, shortly before Mr. Trump's inauguration, the New York Times reported in December. Relations between China and the U.S. were jittery then, and haven't improved much since.

White House releases details of Pres. Trump's 2005 tax returns.

The issue of the president's tax returns isn't likely to disappear soon. Mr. Trump and Congress intend to move forward with tax reform this fall, and the topic of the president's own taxes will likely resurface.